tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102723522017-11-29T20:27:59.668+08:00Teacher Professional Development in Online EnvironmentsEnhancing professionalism. Providing access to mentoring opportunities. Learning and Teaching. Most of all, developing friendships beyond geographical borders.Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.comBlogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-27893395126274808442011-06-12T18:12:00.000+08:002011-06-12T18:12:18.102+08:00aPLaNet Project: A WizIQ online meetingMessage pasted below as posted by Graham Stanley on Webheads and Twittermates FB page:<br />--------------------<br /><br /> <br />Graham Stanley Jun 12<br />aPLaNet Live from Athens - Meeting Online today 3:30 PM GTB with Partners (13:30 GMT) <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l/64c99cCBo5tfU_DuePP-swlR_sA/bit.ly/mzqAxZ">http://www.facebook.com/l/64c99cCBo5tfU_DuePP-swlR_sA/bit.ly/mzqAxZ</a> - come and find out how you can join in - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l/64c99_XO8VhpivGTPUhZY3wn5Zw/aplanet-project.org/">http://www.facebook.com/l/64c99_XO8VhpivGTPUhZY3wn5Zw/aplanet-project.org/</a>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-22869053135292550552011-06-12T18:04:00.002+08:002011-06-13T19:31:10.367+08:00Webinar: International Collaborative ProjectRecording of the Session is available at<br />Eluminate <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2011jun12l2g">http://tinyurl.com/2011jun12l2g</a> <br />* and the full URL is: <a href="https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2011-06-12.0657.M.7AE801FFB697DA460D4BF25AA8C21B.vcr&sid=75">https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2011-06-12.0657.M.7AE801FFB697DA460D4BF25AA8C21B.vcr&sid=75</a> <br />--------------<br /><br />Pasted here is the message posted by Vance Stevens on the EVonline Webheads list.<br />--------------<br /><br />Sunday June 12,<br /><br />Ayat Al-Tawel (from Egypt) and Maria Bossa (from Argentina) are two EFL teachers who would like to share their international collaboration project. They have both worked with their students so they can interact with each other, not only to practise their English, but also to go beyond the walls of the traditional classroom to meet other cultures, customs, traditions and likes. This Sunday they'll tell us about their students' collaborations between Egypt and Argentina; e.g. <a href="http://photopeach.com/album/17qcpq4?ref=fb">http://photopeach.com/album/17qcpq4?ref=fb</a><br /><br />When and where:<br /><br />* noon GMT, start gathering at http://tappedin.org for distance coordination and setup<br />* 13:00 GMT, start the discussion in Elluminate<br />o Time where you are: http://tinyurl.com/2011jun12gmt1300<br />o or: <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Learning2gether+Live+Online+Webinar&iso=20110612T13&ah=1">http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Learning2gether+Live+Online+Webinar&iso=20110612T13&ah=1</a> <br />* Eluminate is at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y3eh">http://tinyurl.com/y3eh</a>,<br />and the full URL is <a href="http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?go=273662">http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?go=273662</a><br /><br />Announcements<br /><br />* <a href="http://taedtech.ning.com/events/learning2gether-with-ayat">http://taedtech.ning.com/events/learning2gether-with-ayat </a><br /><br />Here are some screenshots taken during today's webinar:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-085u31-_joM/TfTNkmoVUTI/AAAAAAAAAPU/DEmdfbE4tkk/s1600/2gether1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-085u31-_joM/TfTNkmoVUTI/AAAAAAAAAPU/DEmdfbE4tkk/s320/2gether1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w_wkX1tQPFk/TfTNe0R-H2I/AAAAAAAAAPM/vaeiHPU6NhE/s1600/2gether2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w_wkX1tQPFk/TfTNe0R-H2I/AAAAAAAAAPM/vaeiHPU6NhE/s320/2gether2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pg68ZqEXrCQ/TfTNV-mPR8I/AAAAAAAAAPE/w7QMZ38pV-Q/s1600/2gether3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pg68ZqEXrCQ/TfTNV-mPR8I/AAAAAAAAAPE/w7QMZ38pV-Q/s320/2gether3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w2yCNLqQE4I/TfTNOLtfz1I/AAAAAAAAAO8/se7KliBCDkE/s1600/2gether4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w2yCNLqQE4I/TfTNOLtfz1I/AAAAAAAAAO8/se7KliBCDkE/s320/2gether4.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aXP9IlgTUNM/TfTNEitv2fI/AAAAAAAAAO0/qyjQquunAXE/s1600/2gether5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aXP9IlgTUNM/TfTNEitv2fI/AAAAAAAAAO0/qyjQquunAXE/s320/2gether5.jpg" /></a></div>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-15607528643959735182011-06-08T23:58:00.002+08:002011-06-12T18:36:59.791+08:00Vicki Hollet's WebinarVicki Hollet's presentation materials, <a href="http://bit.ly/mfAO7D">http://bit.ly/mfAO7D</a> Download pdf file<br /><br />Some screenshots taken during the webinar<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oT3oapLJWmo/TfSWsM8E7hI/AAAAAAAAAOs/hZEsBIAdtDU/s1600/Vicki_web1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oT3oapLJWmo/TfSWsM8E7hI/AAAAAAAAAOs/hZEsBIAdtDU/s320/Vicki_web1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fgNYtlhFev4/TfSWlh8-ksI/AAAAAAAAAOk/GNrR-UruQCc/s1600/Vicki_web2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fgNYtlhFev4/TfSWlh8-ksI/AAAAAAAAAOk/GNrR-UruQCc/s320/Vicki_web2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tiPqnEPaD4U/TfSWeo4xRNI/AAAAAAAAAOc/3OlYqZl0Ty8/s1600/Vicki_web3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tiPqnEPaD4U/TfSWeo4xRNI/AAAAAAAAAOc/3OlYqZl0Ty8/s320/Vicki_web3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sNpcJPVXoqc/TfSWR8-CmfI/AAAAAAAAAOU/zcPshDy_nCc/s1600/Vicki_web4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sNpcJPVXoqc/TfSWR8-CmfI/AAAAAAAAAOU/zcPshDy_nCc/s320/Vicki_web4.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZFNPNGa0wY/TfSWJlIYh7I/AAAAAAAAAOM/XFaZM92NWAo/s1600/Vicki_web5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZFNPNGa0wY/TfSWJlIYh7I/AAAAAAAAAOM/XFaZM92NWAo/s320/Vicki_web5.jpg" /></a></div>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-23092558767724508772011-06-08T19:13:00.000+08:002011-06-08T19:13:56.834+08:00Free Online Conference sponsored by Flexible Learning in AustraliaAs posted by Michael Coghlan to the Webheads' listserv.<br />---------------------<br />A free 3 day conference begins today at <br /><http://networksevents.flexiblelearning.net.au/webx?@179.SvbaaugjcTm.8@>http://networksevents.flexiblelearning.net.au/ <br />Everybody welcome :-)<br /><br />- MichaelAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-23556932119761459262011-06-07T18:53:00.002+08:002011-06-08T19:08:39.959+08:00Cultural Fluency: An Essential Skill for Today's WorldHere's a screenshot of Joan's Webinar<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9Ou-pH44gY/Te9YI9WdqGI/AAAAAAAAAOE/J_NRTJsNyN8/s1600/Joan_Saslow_webinar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9Ou-pH44gY/Te9YI9WdqGI/AAAAAAAAAOE/J_NRTJsNyN8/s320/Joan_Saslow_webinar.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />As POSTED by Pearson Longman<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Event: Cultural Fluency: An Essential Skill for Today's World</span><br />Date: Wednesday, June 08 2011 11:00 AM (GMT +01:00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Add this event to your calendar</span><br /><br />Approximately 80 % of the people who speak English in the world today are not native speakers of English. This startling reality compels us to broaden our pedagogical focus for today's learners, who will have to navigate the world of work, study, and travel among people of diverse language backgrounds and unfamiliar cultures. Offering a rationale and a syllabus for integrating the skill of cultural fluency with language instruction, this presentation proposes shifting the treatment of ?culture? from content to skill, greatly accelerating students' ability to communicate verbally and socially with confidence and ease. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Joan Saslow</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sielt.anadolu.edu.tr/Images/JoanSaslow%20(1)%20photo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="160" src="http://sielt.anadolu.edu.tr/Images/JoanSaslow%20(1)%20photo.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><br />Joan Saslow has taught in a variety of programs in South America and the United States. She is author of a number of multi-level integrated-skills courses for adults and young adults: Ready to Go: Language, Lifeskills, and Civics; Workplace Plus: Living and Working in English; and of Literacy Plus. She is also author of English in Context: Reading Comprehension for Science and Technology. Ms. Saslow was the series director of True Colors and True Voices. She participates in the English Language Specialist Program in the U.S. Department of State?s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.<br /><br /><br />Before the event<br />To be sure your computer is setup correctly for this event, run: <a href="http://mt204.centra.com/SysCheck/main/Customers/pearson">System Check</a><br /><br />Link to attend the event<br /><a href="http://mt204.centra.com/GA/main/0000001a68ba94012fea1b4a64007a41">http://mt204.centra.com/GA/main/0000001a68ba94012fea1b4a64007a41<br /></a><br />This session may be recorded and each attendee may have the capability of distributing this recording. Each participant's use of recordings and participant information is subject to U.S. and international privacy laws.Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-68032733514422217512011-04-17T20:19:00.002+08:002011-04-17T20:19:36.670+08:00Why use poems in classNotes from Linda Yael's session yesterday<br /><br /><br />Why use poem<br />Linda Yael<br /><br />Authentic content<br />Encourage students' personal reactions<br /><br />Trigger students' own writing<br />General educational value<br /><br />Deal with values<br /><br />Give insights unto other cultures while increasing awareness if own<br /><br />Use both sides of the brain<br /><br />Motivating and enjoyable<br /><br />Characteristics of poems<br />Focus on language eg vocabulary, intonation, stress， collocation<br /><br />Can be dealt with one lesson and can be tied in with topics in syllabus<br /><br />Deal w universal themes students can identify with<br /><br />Poems by Wendy Cope<br />Robin Thurston<br /><br />For young learners, use pictures. Eg lions are ___<br /><br />The Veggie Lion (Spike Milligan)<br />I'm a vegetarian lion... <br /><br />Students can work in pairs<br /><br />Oh homework, oh homework<br />I hate you! You stink! ( a teacher from Poland) <br />- long version on presenter's pptAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-20509225497935317362011-04-16T21:16:00.000+08:002011-04-16T21:16:14.422+08:00Notes on Richard Cauldwell's presentation on accent and identityNotes on Richard Cauldwell's presentation on Accent and Identity: Prejudice and insecurity<br /><br />Sonocent audio note taker<br /><br />Outline:<br />Definitions<br />Prejudices<br />Accents, identity, change, variation<br />Insecurity and self-worth<br />Thriving with <br /><br />Prejudice: OALD, 8, an unreasonable dislike<br /><br />Prejudice league table<br />Best- received pronunciation (RP)<br /><br />Worst- Birmingham <br /><br />Prestige accent: BBC type of worry (A Lloyd James)<br /><br />It is spoken by those who properly called the best people<br /><br />If you want clarity- go to non standard accent<br /><br />Prejudices: self-loathing, poor self-worth<br /><br />Foreign language syndrome. Accent can change dramatically if you've got a stroke. 'losing accent. Losing identity.'<br /><br />People change, accents change<br /><br />Multiple accents, vary depending on who they're talking to<br /><br />Prestige accent: embarrassment<br /><br />John Wells's blog, BrE<br /><br />Attainment Models? Target pronunciation? Richard's argument<br /><br />Typical learner's problem: leave<br />Thriving in English<br /><br />English as a lingua Franca (Jennifer Jenkins)<br /><br />English is not ours<br />Reference models are very useful, but they are not what people speak<br />ELF movement can help us identify attainment model<br /><br />ELF can remove the sense of poor self-worth<br /><br />Final thoughts:<br />No such thing ad good accent<br />People are multi-accented<br /><br />We are surrounded by voices od people who not speak the reference model- they thrive. <br /><br />Use prestige accent ad a reference model, not model/achievement target<br /><br />Not as a measure of professional expertiseAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-75247651581462284282011-04-16T18:59:00.002+08:002011-04-16T18:59:34.351+08:00Notes from the AS Hornby Scholars' PresentationAS Hornby educational Trust presenters<br />Teacher Development Language Proficiency<br /><br />A. Confidence and language proficiency<br /><br />Recognizing reality<br />A. pre-service<br />B. In-service<br /><br />possible suggestions<br />Teacher training courses<br />Workshops and seminars<br />Prof devt courses<br /><br />B. Teacher Motivation<br />Low level motivation- or no motivation at all<br /><br />Poor motivation- leads to attrition<br /><br />Causes of low motivation<br />1) Job context<br />-poor facilities eg no chalks etc<br />-teachers not considered in educational decision making process<br />- teachers are nit given professional autonomy<br /><br />2) Job Content<br />- teacher and student ratio<br />-work load eg 36 hours of teaching per week<br /><br />3) lack of incentives and poor salary<br />70£ per month<br />Poor socio economic situation<br /><br />Realistic solutions<br />1) creative positive working environment<br /><br />2) provide opportunities for continuous training<br />Tpd<br />Enhance self-esteem<br />Update their skills<br /><br />Implications fir teacher training and education<br /><br />Trainers should be aware of these situations<br /><br />C. Contextual Factors (Ramzi)<br />Causes<br />1. People involved- not aware of contextual realities<br /><br />2. Objectives- not clear, realistic, and practical<br /><br />3. Training<br />A. Content- emphasizing theories, ignoring practical implications<br />B. Timing- too short to achieve objectives<br />C. Trainers- not properly trained<br />d. Evaluation- no learning from previous experience<br /><br /><br />Effects if ignoring contextual factors<br /><br />1. Cascade programs- trickle<br />2. Irrelevance- demotivation<br />3. Impracticality- lack of administrative support<br />4. Investment of time, money, and energy- wasted<br />5. Unrealized national curriculum objectives<br /><br />Solutions<br />1. Involve more stake holders in planning- teachers, training<br /><br />2. Integration of planners and implementers<br /><br />3. Post-training support<br /><br />4. Readjustment and fine tuning based on feedback<br /><br />5. Decentralization/localization <br /><br />Teacher Development: the Kerala model<br /><br />Context: Kerala is a small state in India<br /><br />Focus of the governments- time independence<br /><br />A. General trend- infrastructure<br />B. Budget deficit 13.5%<br /><br />English graduates teach English<br />A. New legislation in the 21st century<br /><br />B. English teachers teach only in English<br /><br />Motivation<br />A. Secure job<br />B. Pensions after retirement<br />C. Salary increment at oar with inflation in addition to annual increment based on the existing scale of pay.<br /><br />2. Teaching Organizations<br /><br />3. Regular teacher development workshops<br />5 day annual workshops<br />Practicing teachers as resource persons<br /><br />4. Resource Person development workshops<br /><br />3-6 months training at Bangalore<br />Selection <br /><br />Teachers support offered online- IT@Schoolproject<br />Eg subsidized laptop<br /><br />Cluster meetings- teacher share<br />Avoid backwash from exams- teachers can test what is taught<br /><br />Caveat of the method <br />Not perfect<br />Evolving<br />Practical issues<br /><br />Conclusion<br /><br />Fullan (1991) educational change depends on what teachers do and think. It is as simple and complex as that.Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-70103347622877580312011-04-16T17:42:00.002+08:002011-04-16T17:43:13.242+08:00Notes from Peter Grundy's talk, IATEFL PlenaryPeter Grundy Plenary<br /><br />Maximize content, <br />Formulaic questions, obvious yes or no answer<br /><br />What is language?<br />Communication? Answer to the question what is language for?<br /><br />To communicate what precisely?<br /><br />Pragmatics<br />Meaning comes from the use of language; what we mean by our words; implications<br /><br />Particularized understanding. Depending on context.<br /><br />Type of inferences. Token understanding. <br /><br />Does your boyfriend know you're here? The question asked if folks from Brighton go to a football match. (joke)<br /><br />Pg: that's a nice pair<br />Lady: thank you<br /><br />Pragmatics: contextual and cognitive effects<br /><br />Inference and metarepresentation<br /><br />Our thoughts are more precise than our words<br /><br />Metaphors<br />Idioms<br />Hedges: I think, probably, really, by the way<br /><br />The phenomenon of speaking in the wrong language<br /><br />What we want our learners to achieve?<br /><br />Fluency<br />Accuracy<br />Complexity<br />Cognitive mapping?<br /><br />Methods: <br /><br />L1-l2 w/o thought is translation<br /><br />Meaning and humanistic approaches<br /><br />Pragmatic competence<br /><br />Receptive learning vs productive learning<br /><br />Semantics- what words mean<br /><br />Thought- unspoken though that we intend to communicate<br /><br />Pedagogical implications if the two<br /><br />Equivalence<br />Breadth, depth and context<br />Corpora and context<br />Dictionaries and metalinguistic explanations<br />Anglo-centric<br />E.g. Chinese writing system, the use of classifiers (fire, fo, huo)<br /><br />Orientation to the properties of the public word<br /><br />Utterance is an index for thoughtAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-14189913120766452072011-04-16T17:39:00.001+08:002011-04-16T17:41:03.704+08:00IATEFL 2011Convention Center<br />http://t.co/DCsVizyAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-57107734003383966742011-04-03T13:27:00.002+08:002011-04-03T13:28:46.413+08:00BRIGHTON 2011 CONFERENCE PROGRAMMEClick the link below to view (in PDF file) the IATEFL 2011 in Brighton conference programme. I had to squeeze my limited budget to attend this conference as a full participant- yes, first time ever. And I'd like to make the most out of it.<br /><br />I'd love to meet colleagues and friends whom I've been interacting with online for the past several years but never had the opportunity to meet f2f. Now here's my chance :-)<br /><br />Conference Programme: <a href="http://bit.ly/ewLPxi">http://bit.ly/ewLPxi</a>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-11103906341415536782011-03-29T18:20:00.002+08:002011-04-01T10:52:40.755+08:00Free Online TPD (IATEFL)Posted on behalf of the Brighton Team. <br /><br />IATEFL BRIGHTON CONFERENCE: BRIGHTON ONLINE WEBSITE NOW LIVE!<br /><br />Online conference coverage of the 45th IATEFL Conference<br /><br />The Brighton Online website is now live at:<br /><a href="http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011">http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011</a><br /><br />The British Council and IATEFL have launched the Brighton Online website<br />which offers live web coverage of this year's IATEFL Conference in Brighton.<br /><br />The Brighton Online website allows gives you an opportunity to follow one of<br />the world's biggest ELT conferences free online.<br /><br />Brighton Online offers:<br />- video recordings of selected sessions<br />- live interviews and streamed plenaries<br />- moderated special interest discussion forums<br />- text reports and photo albums<br /><br />To visit the Brighton Online website, go to:<br /><a href="http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011">http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011</a><br /><br />This initiative builds on earlier collaboration between the British Council<br />and IATEFL.<br /><br />Last year over 50,000 teachers and trainers participated in Harrogate<br />Online.<br /><br />This year we expect a much larger audience, and this is a real opportunity<br />to take part in the biggest online ELT training community.<br /><br />The Brighton Online website gives you an opportunity to share ideas with<br />teachers all around the world. There will be interactive live coverage with<br />video presentations, reports and interviews from Harrogate.<br /><br />We look forward to meeting you online, and hope that you will share this<br />information with your colleagues worldwide.<br /><br />Gavin Dudeney - Honorary Secretary, IATEFL<br />Julian Wing - British Council Brighton Online Project Manager<br />Nik Peachey - IATEFL Online EditorAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-25438117175535410352011-03-14T06:56:00.000+08:002011-03-14T06:56:01.238+08:00Free TESOL 2011 WebcastsAs posted by Chris Sauer on the Webheads List:<br /><br /><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">Hey folks!</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">We'll be webcasting several sessions from the Electronic Village and Academic</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">sessions in New Orleans. Visit</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.call-is.org/info/course/view.php?id=22" style="color: #247cd4; text-decoration: none;">http://www.call-is.org/info/course/view.php?id=22</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">&nbsp;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">to view the calendar of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">webcasts and instructions on how to attend. Please pass the link on to others</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">who might be interested in participating.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">Chris</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px;">CALL-IS Webcast lead</span></blockquote>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-42984804254413578222010-11-18T18:58:00.002+08:002010-11-18T19:01:18.801+08:00LESSON PLANS ON APEC WIKILesson plans I submitted are now on APEC's wiki,<br />Cross Cultural Communication, <br /><a href="http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/What%27s_in_a_Name:_A_Cross-Cultural_Communication_Project">http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/What%27s_in_a_Name:_A_Cross-Cultural_Communication_Project</a><br /><br />Gender Roles in Advertising, <a href="http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/Gender_Roles_in_Advertising">http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/Gender_Roles_in_Advertising</a><br /><br />Public Service Announcements, <a href="http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/Public_Service_Announcements">http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/Public_Service_Announcements</a><br /><br />Other lessons from TESOL submitters are found here <a href="http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/Tips_for_Teaching_21st_Century_Workplace_Skills">http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/Tips_for_Teaching_21st_Century_Workplace_Skills</a><br /><br />Am very pleased :-)<br /><br />Aiden<br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />Subject: APEC Wiki<br />Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:00:07 +0000<br /><br />Greetings to all (there are 6 of you in this email…),<br /><br />Remember a while back… I was bugging you about creating teaching tips for a contract for APEC? Well, here it is: <a href="http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/International_Education_Week_2010">http://hrd.apec.org/index.php/International_Education_Week_2010</a> <br /><br />All of our wonderful teaching tips are found at Tips for Teaching 21st Century Workplace Skills.<br /><br />I cannot even begin to share my thanks and gratitude for all of your contributions. Thank you, thank you, thank you! If you had time, look around a bit. The Skills for Success in Multinational Business was developed by the Center of Applied Linguistics. The Business Language for a Global Economy was developed by Synergy. And the Learning About Each Other pages were developed by the US Department of Education. <br /><br />Cheers-<br /><br />Sarah<br />Professional Development Manager<br />Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.<br />A Global Education Association<br /><a href="http://www.tesol.org/">http://www.tesol.org/</a>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-26737153373356811652010-11-17T20:16:00.001+08:002010-11-17T20:17:26.581+08:00Christmas Carol Learning MaterialsI'm sharing on this blog post a message posted by Kieran on IATEFL's YG list. On the link provided you can find learning materials on Christmas Carols, which should be just in time since Christmas is around the corner. <br /><br /><a href="http://christmascarol.esolebooks.com/">http://christmascarol.esolebooks.com/</a><br /><br />Visit Kieran's site at <a href="http://younglearners.eslreading.org/">http://younglearners.eslreading.org/</a>&nbsp;for more learning materials.Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-69328040282331953452010-11-14T00:19:00.001+08:002011-04-03T12:49:18.460+08:00Kevin Spacey on Being Successful<object height="390" width="440"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p1GAouJFaGk&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p1GAouJFaGk&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="440" height="390"></embed></object>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-40722061272190725002010-11-07T18:09:00.002+08:002010-11-07T18:12:58.315+08:00Peter Medgyes: Native or Non-Native language teacher?The text below was the message posted by Dennis Newson at the YLTSIG list. Peter Medgyes is&nbsp;going to lead asynchronous discussions on Native&nbsp;or Non-Native language teacher?&nbsp;The discussions are going to be held on YLTSIG Yahoo!Group&nbsp;list&nbsp;<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/younglearners/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/younglearners/</a>&nbsp;You need to join the group in order to participate in the discussions.<br /><blockquote>Our fielder for the YLTSIG discussion from Monday 8 November to Friday is PETER MEDGYES, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest. Previously, he was a schoolteacher, teacher trainer, Vice President of his university, Deputy State Secretary at the Hungarian Ministry of Education and the Hungarian Ambassador in Damascus. Professor Medgyes is the author of numerous books and articles published both in Hungary and abroad.Many of you may have read his Changing Perspectives in Teacher Education (Macmillan Education, 1996), Laughing Matters: Humour in the Language Classroom (CUP 2002) orThe Non-Native Teacher (ELT) (Max Hueber,1999).<br /><br /><br />For the YLTSIG discussion we have decided to look again at an old and still disputed issue - <br />Native or Non-Native language teacher? <br /><br />As Peter put it when I invited him to make a provocative statement to get the discussion started: <br /><br />"I still know of language schools which are reluctant to employ non-native speaking teachers of English. If you were the principal of a language school, would you also give priority to natives?"<br /><br />Well, would you or wouldn't you - and why?</blockquote><blockquote>The official start of the discussion is on Monday, but there is nothing to stop you posting right now if you have an opinion to share.</blockquote><blockquote>Dennis Newson<br />Formerly University of Osnabrueck, GERMANY<br />Committee member <br />Discussion List Manager IATEFL YLT SIG<br />Creator: YLTSIG NING <br /><a href="http://ylandtsig.ning.com/">http://ylandtsig.ning.com/</a><br />Winner British Council ELT 05 Innovation Award<br />Unrepentant grammarophobe<br /><br />YLTSIG Website: <a href="http://www.yltsig.org/">http://www.yltsig.org/</a><br />Yahoogroups: Subscribe: <a href="mailto:younglearners-subscribe@yahoogroups.com">younglearners-subscribe@yahoogroups.com</a></blockquote>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-61639087982098085382010-11-07T16:16:00.001+08:002010-11-07T17:22:50.382+08:00SpeedGeek: Electronic Village Online SessionsI'm reposting Vance Steven's message to the Webheads' List<br /><blockquote>Hi everyone,<br /><br /><br />This Sunday at 1300 GMT Elizabeth Hanson-Smith will coordinate a presentation on EVO, or Electronic Village Online. You can find information about the free professional development available over a 5-week period this coming January and February 2011 here <a href="http://evosessions.pbworks.com/">http://evosessions.pbworks.com/</a>, and you can come to this live event to meet some of the moderators who are now preparing to put on these sessions; e.g.<br /><br />PLEs and PLNs<br />Susan Berg, Letizia Cinganoto, Daniella Cuccurullo<br /><br />Second Life<br />Dennis Newson, Kalyan Chattopadhyay, Heike Philp, Maria Pinto, Nahir Aparicio<br /><br />Podcasts<br />Evelyn Izquierdo, Jose Rodriguez, Miguel Mendoza<br /><br />Digital Storytelling<br />Carla Arena<br /><br />Multiliteracies<br />Vance Stevens, Dennis Oliver, Jennifer Verschoor, Nelba Quintana<br /><br />Internet4YoungLearners (a 2010 EVO session)<br />Sandra Rogers<br /><br />The event actually starts at noon GMT (4 p.m. in the UAE) when teaching practitioners gather at http://tappedin.org for informal text chat. At 13:00 GMT (5 p.m. in the UAE) we move to the presentation venue in Elluminate at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y3eh">http://tinyurl.com/y3eh</a><br /><br />Please note, Elluminate is generously provided to us by Learning Times, and prior registration is required (non-intrusive, takes only minutes).<br /><br />The Google Calendar showing these events displays at <a href="http://multiliteracies.ning.com/">http://multiliteracies.ning.com/</a><br /><br />All are welcome, and hope to see you there,<br /><br />Vance</blockquote>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-15689994043548034082010-11-03T22:27:00.000+08:002010-11-03T22:27:45.448+08:00Letter-from-the-Chair DraftDear NNESTIS Members,<br /><br /><br />I hope that 2010 has been a good year for all of you as it has been for our Interest Section (IS). Since this will be my last letter as Chair, I’d like to bring your attention to three key IS issues: IS elections and exiting IS officers, TESOL 2011 Academic Session and Intersessions with other ISs, and the NNEST-Electronic Village Online (EVO) 2011 Session.<br /><br />Firstly, we are going to wrap this year with an election for the various Steering Committee (SC) positions for 2011-2012. I will be stepping down as Chair, and Icy Lee will take over as Chair for 2011-2012. Aya Matsuda and Ryuko Kubota (members-at-large officers) and Lifen Lin (our web manager) will also end their terms in March 2011. Candidates for these positions will be announced soon, and I’m hoping that we could have our elections before 2010 makes its final exit. To Aya, Ryuko, and Lifen, many many thanks for your help and support. Rashi Jain will continue on with her role as our Newsletter Editor, and (name of new volunteer insert here) will be the (name of position to be filled, insert here). Election results will be announced to the list and an official announcement will be made during our IS business meeting in New Orleans next March.<br /><br />Secondly, for the 2011 TESOL convention in New Orleans, we will be working with SLWIS (with NNEST as primary), SPLIS (as secondary), and with TEIS &amp; EFL ISs (as third), and the following NNEST-IS members will be representing our IS in these sessions:<br /><br />NNEST-SLWIS Intersession: Icy Lee, Lisya Seloni, and Claus Gnutzmann<br />SPLIS-NNEST Intersession: Paul Sze, Katya Nemchinova<br />TEIS-EFL-NNEST Intersession: Isabela Villas Boas<br /><br />Zoreh Eslami, Lia Kamhi-Stein, Lawrence Jun Zhang, and Donna Fujimoto will be joining me for our Academic Session.<br /><br />Last but not least, we will be offering NNEST-EVO 2011 in January to kick-off a good year for NNEST teacher professional development. We have a roster of great guest speakers per week who will be leading the synchronous and asynchronous discussions. The speakers (see below) are experts in their own right and are quite well-known in the TESOL/ELT academic circle. <br /><br />List of Confirmed-Speakers<br /><br />1. Jeremy Harmer<br /><br />2. Jeff Lebow<br /><br />3. Yilin Sun<br /><br />4. Isabela Villas Boas<br /><br />5. Michael Carrier<br /><br />6. Marisa Constantinides<br /><br />7. Robert Griffin<br /><br />8. Icy Lee<br /><br />9. George Vassilakis<br /><br />10. Masaki Oda<br /><br />11. RELO Thailand<br /><br />12. Rashi Jain<br /><br />The thematic weekly discussions will cover a range of NNEST-related issues, which unfortunately despite the vast research conducted and published papers in these areas, the same concerns and dilemma still exist today. Links to the synchronous and asynchronous discussions will be announced by the end of December. This EVO session is definitely something you wouldn’t want to miss!<br /><br />Thank you all and have a great new year!<br /><br />Aiden YehAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-1805044473425653402010-11-01T20:17:00.003+08:002010-11-01T21:01:16.612+08:00Response to Week 2, EVO training, PitfallsHi All,<br /><br /><br />I'd just like to respond to Holly's and Sandra's messages regarding this thread.<br /><br />First, I like what Holly wrote about getting balance, support, and most importantly, the ability to forgive ourselves when we fail to do what we're supposed to do. Increasing/adding items to our 'things to do' list is really not a pitfall, but it becomes one when we stuffed in too many things at the same time. This is my common pitfall. I tend to over commit myself, to the point that I don't get enough rest, I produce a pretty mediocre job (which I could've probably done better), etc. A glance at how we all performed in Week 2 is a good benchmark in looking at our commitments. We are all committed to this training, yet not all of us shared with the group what we have accomplished so far. Are you like me? Have you over-comitted yourself this time around? Your session participants would probably do the same thing. So instead of producing/participating in making use of the learning opportunity, they'd tend to not fully commit themselves since they've probably had tons of other things to do in their 'to-do' list.<br /><br />Sandra mentioned 'enforcing' people to participate. We all do want them to participate. But unlike her course, our participants are not graded. This isn't a pass or fail thing. We just kinda provide this learning service for free and we just hope that they somehow would benefit from this experience, one way or another. But this training session, although free and voluntary, we do have standards. And this year, as mentioned in Week 1, we do have some pending sessions. Your participation in this training i.e. evidence of meeting the tasks/benchmarks will be used to assess whether your session is ready for offering or not. I don't want to sound like the strict-principal that all teachers hate, but EVO has got a name to keep. And I hope that we are all in the same boat and using the same sculls so we can row it smoothly.<br /><br /><br />Have a great Week 3 everyone!<br /><br /><br />Aiden Yeh<br />EVO/NNEST-EVO 2011Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-51685398567652760262010-10-27T01:08:00.004+08:002010-10-27T01:16:19.538+08:00Reflections on Claire's ESL-WOW Project Presentation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_eMzOnoJne4o/TMcMnyQSEnI/AAAAAAAAANU/CMKkD2Zfl4I/s1600/Claire_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_eMzOnoJne4o/TMcMnyQSEnI/AAAAAAAAANU/CMKkD2Zfl4I/s400/Claire_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Claire B. Siskin did a presentation about the ESL-Writing Online Workshop (WOW)&nbsp;Project that she's involved in, which&nbsp;is funded by FIPSE, Funding for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education (see </span><a href="http://buxiban.blogspot.com/2010/10/esl-wow-project.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://buxiban.blogspot.com/2010/10/esl-wow-project.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). FIPSE usually awards grants in projects where 'innovation' is involved. ESL-WOW is somewhat similar to PURDUE's ONLINE WRITING LAB (OWL)&nbsp;project (</span><a href="http://owl.english.purdue.edu/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://owl.english.purdue.edu/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">), but the difference is ESL-WOW is completely devoted to ESL. According to Claire, they plan to have all the materials and learning resources completely available to everyone- but this won't materialize until 2013! Although, she hopes that they would be able to make some of the materials available online in 2012 :-) Basically, ESL-WOW develops materials for ESL students that are easy to understand; they hope to employ ESL (live) tutors for the first year, and they hope that the site would become a place where students can 'interact' with the available materials on their own; in other words, students will have to be autonomous learners making use of 'computer scaffolding'. In the chat discussion, Dennis O. provided some good examples of 'computer scaffolding' i.e. glossary, peer editing, etc. Vance and others also suggested the use of twitter applications on their site, creating a Facebook group where students could meet and learn together. While human scaffolding i.e. asking people/teachers for support is always desirable, sometimes in projects like this, it would be very difficult to maintain. Claire pointed out two of her main concerns: dissemination (informing people about this) and sustainability (making sure that the site survives the test of time). I think getting the word out won't be much of a problem since basic marketing and promotional techniques can be employed. Besides, with the advent of personal learning networks (PLNs) and social networks, the simple word-of-mouth advertising will do- so long as people keep on sharing information about ESL-WOW. Claire's second concern, sustainability, is I think more problematic, as she pointed some good examples of NING sites that were created but ultimately met untimely death since people did not&nbsp;bother to go back or pay them a visit. In other words, without the human support/following, the site full of wonderful and available resources can just become a memorial site for those lost ESL souls. What they hope is for students to keep on coming back and making use of these resources; well I think as long as they are free and downloadable, students (new and old) will keep on coming back. The thing is,&nbsp;we're talking about second language writing. For ESL students, writing is extremely difficult. And sometimes, no matter what resources are available to them, they do not see how they can successfully make use of them. In some cases, students are perenially lazy. It's easier to ask, than do the search themselves. Only those who are extremely motivated will go out of their way to search&nbsp;and make sense of&nbsp;the resources they've found online.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The open resources will be archived in a Moodle, and for the first few years, live tutors will also be available on the moodle site to offer virtual support.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The recording of Claire's is available at </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/24oct2010claire"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://tinyurl.com/24oct2010claire</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read the chat transcript here, </span><br /><a href="http://evo-training.pbworks.com/w/page/Tapped-in-transcript-October-24th"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://evo-training.pbworks.com/w/page/Tapped-in-transcript-October-24th</span></a>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-20570039157493456752010-10-24T19:56:00.006+08:002010-10-27T02:33:14.200+08:00The ESL-WOW ProjectThe recording is available at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/24oct2010claire">http://tinyurl.com/24oct2010claire</a><br />You can read the chat transcript here, <br /><a href="http://evo-training.pbworks.com/w/page/Tapped-in-transcript-October-24th">http://evo-training.pbworks.com/w/page/Tapped-in-transcript-October-24th</a><br />----------------- <br />Hi all,<br /><br />This is just reposting Vance's message on EVONLINE WEBHEADS:<br /><br /><blockquote><blockquote>Here are the details: <br /><br /><a href="http://taedtech.ning.com/events/claire-bradin-siskin-describes">http://taedtech.ning.com/events/claire-bradin-siskin-describes</a><br /><br />Title: The ESL-WOW Project<br /><br /><br />Description: Claire Bradin Siskin will describe the ESL Writing Online<br />Workshop (ESL-WOW) Project, which she directs. ESL-WOW, currently under<br />development, will be a website designed to guide non-native speakers of<br />English through each stage of the pre-writing, while-writing, and<br />post-writing processes. Once the materials have been created, ESL-WOW will<br />be available to all individuals and educational institutions across the<br />country. Siskin will outline the development process, and she will also seek<br />feedback and suggestions from her fellow Webheads.<br /><br />This event is part of a participant-driven professional development series<br />planned as a part of the ongoing (since 1998) Webheads in Action<br />professional development series, most recently with the involvement of the<br />TESOL Arabia EdTech SIG. The events take place at 13:00 GMT each Sunday (5 pm in UAE).<br /><br /><br />The event actually starts at noon GMT (4 p.m. in the UAE) when teaching<br />practitioners gather at http://tappedin.org for informal text chat. At 13:00<br />GMT (5 p.m. in the UAE) we move to the presentation venue, either Elluminate<br />at http://tinyurl.com/y3eh, or Adobe Connect at <br /><a href="http://connect.pi.ac.ae/taedtech.">http://connect.pi.ac.ae/taedtech.</a><br /><br /><br />The event this week will take place in Elluminate <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y3eh">http://tinyurl.com/y3eh</a><br />Please note, Elluminate is generously provided to us by Learning Times, and<br />prior registration is required (non-intrusive, takes only minutes).<br /><br />All are welcome and hope to see you there,<br /><br />Vance</blockquote></blockquote>Aidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-22242466193965562752010-10-13T19:23:00.006+08:002010-10-27T02:33:57.582+08:00Reflections on Use of MOODLE and Web 2.0 tools in the EFL e-learning courses SessionHere are the things I've learned in Vance Steven's weekly speed geek that took place last Sunday Oct 3 at 13:00 GMT in Adobe Connect, <a href="http://connect.pi.ac.ae/taedtech">http://connect.pi.ac.ae/taedtech</a>. This particular session was about the use of moodle and web 2.0 tools in the EFL e-learning course at a Casa Tomas in Brazilia, Brazil. The lead presenters&nbsp;were Carla Arena and Erika Cruvinel, both long-time webheads.<br /><br />Being a webhead, I've have seen the many class projects that Carla and Erika have designed for their EFL courses. I have also worked with Carla in numerous online endeavors i.e. Electronic Village Online (<a href="http://evosessions.pbworks.com/">http://evosessions.pbworks.com/</a>) and she also presented for the EFL-NNEST Intersession in Boston early this year, <a href="http://eflnnest2010.pbworks.com/">http://eflnnest2010.pbworks.com/</a> So I knew that they'll be presenting effective practices of techology integration in traditional F2F classroom. What I wasn't expecting, and surely it was a very welcome surprise was the inclusion of teacher training which uses both traditional methods and online teacher training strategies. So this is what I'll be focusing on in today's entry.<br /><br />The discussion on teacher training was raised almost at the very end of their session, and it was brought up by Wendy Arnold, IATEFL Young Learner Sig. She asked, "how long&nbsp;it takes online training teachers up to speed on how to use tools?" It was an interesting question and a valid one, too. Erika responded to this and she said that it (teacher training) is a process and the first thing they do as trainers is to teach the teachers how to use these tools. It's pretty common sense that to be able to use the tools effectively in the classroom, the teachers have got to be proficient and confident in using the tools themselves! <br /><br />To support the teachers' training needs in Casa Tomas, they developed the 'Web tools course/E-tutoring course' which is patterned to the EVO style of mentoring and training. This I think is the best complement for EVO, which I believe is a testament to the benefits of doing free online professional development for language teachers who may not have access to TPD in their local teaching/learning environment. Carla also emphasized that it takes some time for teachers to get used to the different tools- since there are hundreds of them! She also pointed out that teachers have to experience how to be online students themselves so they could 1) familiarize themselves with the tools and the technical aspects of web tools application, and 2) realize the students' difficulties Again this is very important because having experienced the same trials and frustrations in using the tools in learning that students face, teachers would be able to provide better support and guidelines to make the students' learning experience a positive one. Sometimes when teachers get so used to using a tool it becomes second nature to them- they coud probably do a task with their eyes closed! For a digital-native teacher, technology integration comes with ease. But surely, before one becomes so good in something there's has got to be a point where they started off as totally ignoramus. So before becoming digital natives, they must have experienced how it was to be digital immigrants. I once was-- back in 2001- until I met Vance Stevens and joined his EVO-Webheads session; the rest is history. Carla and Erika also took the same path- through EVO and webheads they experienced informal mentoring from web-savvy webheads EFL teachers, and once they got the knack of it they started doing the same thing their informal mentors were doing- they were involved in informal teaching/mentoring/participating/sharing. This is a crucial point not only in the survival of a communty of practice (Webheads), but in the language profession as well. Teachers join online groups/networks/CoPs or whatever you want to call them because they feel there's a need to participate, to learn something, to update their skills, etc. and in most occassions, this kind of teacher-support and learning opportunities do not come handy in their workplace. A motivated teacher looks out for ways to improve her/his craft- and they sometimes find them online. It would be ideal if such learning/teaching support is provided by the employing institution, but with the economic setback that many countries are experiencing, even providing basic teacher training is not available just to cut cost. But not for Casa Tomas. <br /><br />This is why I admire Isabel Villasboas, Carla's and Erika's head manager, because she makes it possible to blend theory and practice; she allows the use of social networking sites and other web 2.0 tools creating their own (Casa Tomas) personal learning networking which is shared with other teachers across the globe. Teacher training is not only done online but face-to-face as well- this I believe is the icing on the cake. The more local teachers are given access to teacher professional development the better it gets for the local ELT community. When you improve the kind of teacher quality in your own local network, particularly non-native English teachers, you also improve the quality of English learning students get. I wish there are Isabel Villasboas in Taiwan- but I still have yet to find one :-( <br /><br />/aAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-4580928389471349732010-10-12T17:39:00.002+08:002010-10-27T02:35:00.409+08:00Comments on Angela's Blog Entry on Community vs NetworkThis is a response to Angela's Blog entry on community vs. network, <a href="http://byrnesa.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/community-vs-networks/">http://byrnesa.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/community-vs-networks/</a>. I'm pasting here what I snipped from Angela's blog which would help me address the specific issues that she raised. <br /><br />I think wat she wrote (below) is a great reflection of the benefits of having a recording of an online session/webinar.<br /><blockquote>It seemed that when my concentration went to one, I missed something in the other and thus I ended up watching the session 2 more times, and each time I got something new out of it.&nbsp; I guess that is the beauty of having the elluminate recordings, we can always go back if we need to.</blockquote>Recording a webinar and putting it up online after the session to share with others who didn't have the chance to participate synchronously. I, for one, often missed out on a lot of synchronous conferences/discussions mainly because of two reasons, 1) time availability i.e. conflict of schedule usually with other f2f engagements,&nbsp;and 2) time zone differences. I live in Taiwan and that's where I teach too. But I occassionally travel back and forth between Taiwan and Birmingham, UK. I'm in Birmingham now doing my PhD residency, and the time difference makes it impossible for me to participate. You also wrote about listening to the recording many times and each time you learned something new. Would this have been possible if the recording was not available? If the recording was not made public, do you think that the volunteer mentors, like myself, or&nbsp;other educators who are&nbsp;interested in the topic but could not fully commit themselves to the course would be able to understand your blog reflections if we/they didn't have a clue what the recording was about? This is the beauty of open resources. Anyone who needs it can gain access to it. It's free. It's available, and when you and I discuss we aggregate the data; we snipped bits and pieces and react/reflect on them. In the end, we have this mashed up knowledge as a result of accumulated shared ideas.<br /><br />Another key point&nbsp; is on 'trust' which you mentioned quite a bit in your blog entry. I think you know by now the difference between a network and a community. A network can be helpful specially if connections with others are continuous and active, but it does not necessarily mean that is a community of practice (CoP). Forming a community takes time to build; it's like a 'village'; you've got to know people. You've got to befriend them, which means that there's a certain level of comfort enough for you to share your views and opinions. You are, honey, is like the new kid on the block. You just moved in, and have not yet adapted to the new place. Give it sometime to grow, get to know people and find common goals (which I think you already found in this group/course). Sharing can sometimes be nervewracking because you just don't know how other people will react. So in a new community, one has to be careful with his/her choice of words. But I believe the most important thing to know when sharing ideas, lessons, etc. is that someone out there will benefit from what you've shared. How many times have you benefitted from what other people have shared online? Sometimes you let them know that you got something out of it, most often not. In my own PhD research, I found that the benefits of online sharing, ementoring, etc. to other EFL teachers outweigh the barriers. Perhaps in your own class project, you'd also discover the same :-)<br /><blockquote>At the moment, I do not have enough trust in our EC&amp;I 831 community to be comfortable speaking.&nbsp; Like my classmate, <a href="http://eci831jamie.wordpress.com/">Jamie</a>, I have no problem typing responses in the chat when I have something to say but I am not ready to grab the mic yet, not because, like her, I am shy, but rather because there is not enough trust on my part, yet…&nbsp; It’s another goal area.</blockquote>I like this comment in particular i.e. B. Dieu comment. Well for one, I know who you're talking about. Barbara Dieu is a colleague and dear friend- and our friendship grew as a result of our active participation in the Webheads online community of practice. I agree, CoPs are round, and I'm adding my two cents on this. I talked about sharing and learning, but the process for a teacher does not really start there. For me, there's has got to be a need- your own teaching/learning need. You call out for help in your CoP, and see how many people will turn up to offer guide and support. Soon, it'll be their turn to call our for help, but will you be there for them? What I'm saying is, to make a CoP work, the very essence of belonging to a community lies on sharing and helping and calling out for help. That's the continuous process of a CoP's existence. <br /><blockquote>&nbsp;I think what made the most sense to me was when Barbara Dieu said that “communities are round and networks are spiky.”&nbsp; That gave me a visual in my mind, which is important as I am a visual learner.</blockquote>On Fostering change via a learning community like the ECI,<br /><blockquote>By doing this, maybe we can foster change within our own lives and effectively be a venue for social change.</blockquote>I agree, you can foster change. But without trust,&nbsp;your&nbsp;confidence in this group's ability to foster change is not that strong. You need to be an advocate for change, hence an advocate for this learning community. You strongly believe that this network, this community that you belong in works for you, and therefore will work in your teaching community.<br /><br />On being in a tight-knit closed community,<br /><blockquote>I think my sense of community would be stronger if the course were closed to only those taking it for credit.&nbsp;&nbsp; However, I do not want a closed course; I want it to be an open community.</blockquote>Again, if Alec had chosen to limit participation of non-course takers, I wouldn't be here commenting on your ideas. Perhaps it would be easier to establish a stronger connection with a smaller community- but what you receive and put out&nbsp; foster stronger bonds among the community members. Your participation, combined with other's active contribution make a stronger CoP. So are you willing to make change happen? <br /><br />Let me know about your project, I'd like to see how I can help make your ideas come to life :-)<br /><br />Aiden Yeh/MotherchinaAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10272352.post-49792741924533878382010-10-12T16:40:00.001+08:002010-10-27T02:35:49.959+08:00Comments on Shawn's Understanding Connectivism & Constructivism blog postBelow was the comment I posted on Shawn's blog entry on understandin connectivism and constructivism, <a href="http://shawnastangel.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/76/#comment-41">http://shawnastangel.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/76/#comment-41</a><br /><br />Hi Shawn,<br /><br /><br />I read your blog post with interest. You have covered the basic theoretical framework of connectivism and constructivism. In the end you asked, "Yes, all of these are benefits of the technological aspect of connectivism, but are they not also a very strong component of constructivism?" They are! long before connectivism, CoP was the key phrase. And both capitalizes on social construction of knowledge. Technology provides the access to connecting with other people who share the same interests. Constructivism is more grounded to providing you solid evidence of learning; that learning was not only a result of receiving information/knowledge through your various networks but you construct new ideas based on them. If you were given a project, how would you show evidence of constructivist learning in a connected social network?<br /><br />Aiden Yeh<br />Motherchina on TwitterAidenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05335638395973996332noreply@blogger.com0